Read 04c Dreams of Fire and Gods: Gods for Free Online

used to heading off her husband’s grumblings. “Would you care to join us for some stew? It should be hot by now.”
    Gonim joined the two of them for their simple evening meal by the fire.
    “No pastries tonight, I’m afraid,” the old man said. “Our whole lives are packed onto that wagon.”
    “Poor Kotzod,” his wife murmured. It took Gonim a moment to realize she was referring to the weary-looking old gelding tethered to a hitching post at the edge of the road.
    Gonim laughed. “You named your horse ‘smelly’?”
    “Well, he is !” she replied, giggling about it like a young girl.
    “Poor Kotzod, indeed!”
    “I take it you’re on your way to Harleh, along with the rest of us,” the old man said.
    “Yes, grandfather.”
    “Please!” the man said with a snort. “You make me feel ancient. Call me Seirit. My wife is Unid.”
    “I’m called Gonim.”
    “We’d be glad of your company on the road, Gonim,” Seirit said.
    “Nothing would please me more,” Gonim replied. Then he added, “But are you certain you want to travel there yourselves? I have no choice—I have business with the temple there. But I’m not certain I would go otherwise.”
    The old man shrugged. “The vek is there, and he’s still alive. And Unid has a sister in Harleh. We’re willing to take the risk. It’s twice as far to Sidaz, and neither of us is young.”
    The couple retired not long after that, and they gave Gonim a warm blanket to wrap himself up in. But the acolyte soon discovered he couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t merely that he was feeling restless. He lay there all night long, eyes closed at times, or open and gazing at the fire or the stars overhead, but sleep eluded him. He didn’t feel tired at all. When dawn came, heralded by the bells in the tower ringing out Penent , he sat up and tended the fire until his benefactors awoke.
    Then he helped Seirit yoke the horse to the wagon while Unid prepared a quick breakfast of porridge. The west gate opened and caravans filed through, one at a time. Gonim helped Unid wash the bowls and hang the cast-iron porridge pot, still hot, from a hook on the back of the wagon. Then Seirit led Kotzod by the reins, and Gonim and Unid walked alongside the wagon as they followed the dirt road out of the city and off into the rolling hills.

Chapter 2

     
    S AEL watched Jekh draw the water for his bath, but the young dekan had little enthusiasm for bathing or even climbing out of bed. Only when Jekh fetched a robe from the wardrobe and came to stand beside the bed did Sael at last give in. He sighed and sat up, throwing the bedcovers off his naked body, and stood. The room was chilly, but Jekh quickly bundled him into the robe.
    “The water is just the right temperature, Your Lordship,” the valet pointed out helpfully, though Sael didn’t particularly care.
    Jekh led him to the tub, removed his robe, and helped him settle down into the water. The valet had cared for Sael while he recovered from the fall in the chasm, taking on duties many valets would consider improper—helping Sael eat and bathe and, at Sael’s worst, use the chamber pot. With the ömem now refusing their services, some of the servants had volunteered as nurses in the keep. The vek appointed one of the maids to attend to Sael , at first, but Jekh had shooed the woman out, insisting he was perfectly able to attend to His Lordship’s needs. It was highly irregular and had distressed Sael’s father and Diven, the head of household staff, but Sael, in one of his few lucid moments, had said he didn’t mind, so it had been allowed.
    Physically, there was little need for any of that now. Sael had regained his health, or nearly. He was somewhat weak, but certainly able to care for himself. However, he had little desire to do so. He felt as if he had died when Koreh fell into the chasm, leaving his body an empty shell. He was certainly capable of using the chamber pot by himself, but otherwise he had little desire